Barton Stadium sold out for historic NCAA lacrosse game

Upon entering the Ritchie Center today, there were two large white “Sold Out” signs by the ticket office. As expected, the hardest ticket in town right now is Sunday’s DU lacrosse game against Villanova at Peter Barton Stadium. The first-round NCAA Tournament game (3:15 p.m., ESPNU) is the first-ever Division I contest of its kind held west of the Mississippi River.

Barton Stadium seats about 2,000, I was told, and 500 “lawn” tickets were also sold.

“They always say, ‘If you’ve got a tough ticket it’s a good product,’ and that’s a good thing,” DU coach Bill Tierney said from his Ritchie Center office. “It allows me to think bigger. It allows me to think of a bigger stadium, and all those delusions of grandeur maybe, but it allows me to think of things I talked to (athletic director) Peg (Bradley-Doppes) about two years ago when I interviewed here. Like everything else, it has happened a little quicker than we all expected.”

DU is 13-2 and on a 10-game winning streak. The Pios lost close games to Big East Conference powers Syracuse and Notre Dame and they beat defending NCAA champion Duke. Nobody else has played them close.

Part of why I think people are so pumped about DU is Tierney, who is the John Wooden of college lacrosse coaches. The Pios have a leader that has won six NCAA championships and led his Princeton to 10 overall Final Fours, and he is saying DU can win the national title. I’m buying it.

Back to the sellout. “We want people to say, ‘Oh shoot I couldn’t get a ticket, but I’m going to go to some of their regular-season games next year so I can get into this thing,” Tierney said of the bandwagon.

If nothing else, new turf will be installed at Barton Stadium this summer.